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Aide to Senate leader testifies in probation case

BOSTON (AP) -- An aide to Senate President Therese Murray is expected to continue her testimony about the help her office provided to people seeking jobs in the probation department.

Francine Gannon, Murray's director of constituent services, returns to the stand Monday in the case of former probation commissioner John O'Brien and two deputies accused of rigging the agency's hiring system to favor applicants referred by powerful lawmakers.

Gannon testified Friday that her office provided assistance in 2008 to Patrick Lawton, the son of a former judge who was hired as a probation officer. Other witnesses have said Lawton was less qualified than other applicants.

Prosecutors are seeking to limit Gannon's testimony to hirings by the probation department, but the defense hopes to cross-examine her about other patronage jobs.